Fragility and Flutes
by White Shade
Summary: Baelfire meets an old friend of Rumpelstiltskin's and is persuaded to return and see his father. Set before The Return episode aired. Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I have brought in another tale by the Grimm Brothers...I'm sure it's obvious but I just wanted people to know. Written before The Return and obviously wrong according to plot details after analysis but oh well! My fanfic, my way, so eat that reality.

**Fragility and Flutes**

Bae sat alone in the forest, a small fire lit just outside the camp. The fire was barely burning; he hadn't the strength to relight it. Hot tears instead burned his soft cheeks as he cried. The guard was probably looking for him around the site, but he didn't care. His father certainly hadn't made things any better. He wept, afraid he'd lost his father forever. He seemed consumed by the power of the dagger...

"Father!" he randomly shouted into the echoing night. A cough escaped awkwardly from his lips. He'd choked on his own tears. The salty taste covered his tongue and drops hit the ground with violence.

"Why did you do this?... Why did you leave me?" he whispered to himself the second question.

"He did it because he loves you," another voice split through the thin air candidly. Bae's head jerked up, tears covering his face still.

"Who-who is-"

"Not that it was the best choice," the voice interrupted. By the deep vibrance, Baelfire confirmed that the voice belonged to a man.

"Show yourself!" Bae stood, drawing a knife from his belt, and in his own voice he was threatening. Spinning around and around, the boy couldn't tell where the man exactly was. His head began to hurt a little.

A rat appeared from the shadows, briefly distracting Bae. Still, to calm his nerves he stabbed the creature, swiftly, and with an unknown vengeance, the rat suffocated to its death. With the knife, he flung the rat into the small fire, wishing the blaze was just a tad brighter.

"Now now!" From the shadows emerged someone from his left. He eyed the man at once, the knife pointing in front.

A small, thin flute in his hand, the man spun the intrument around in his palm, flinging it to his mouth, letting out a high-pitched note not even a girl could sing.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked Bae.

"What? It's just a rat," Bae replied, looking to the fire. He felt oddly ashamed for what he'd just done. "Besides, I get nervous, the rat took the blame that's all."

"My my, there _is_ a little of your father in you," the man said.

His pointed hat reminded Bae of a boat with no stern. It was black as night, as was the rest of his clothing, consisting of a tunic, tights, and boots. The pipe, however, was silver, glistening at his side as the moon's light struck it with flare. The man's eyes were green, and his hair was dark brown.

"My father...perhaps...how do you know him?" Bae demanded, starting to question why he still held the knife out. This man's aroma alone was intimidating, already making him feel like he was outmatched. As they each stared into the other's eyes, both were firm.

The man walked around the fire, sending more sticks to join the blaze. He then piled a large log. Bae watched as he put the pipe to his lips, played a soft tune and then a fire exploded from the log, a proud source of light for anyone! So he had magic too...

"I haven't seen Rumpelstiltskin in some time," the man confessed, sitting down and looking at the child. "But stabbing the Dark One...he must've been desperate."

"Who are you?" the boy asked, relaxing his arm but not the knife.

"I'm Felix, known to most as the Pied Piper," he introduced, a rat perching atop his hat at that exact moment. Bae stared blankly.

"Rumpel never mentioned me?" the Pied Piper continued, trying to conjure a memory that may be in the boy's mind. Without any luck, Bae shook his head, a little confused now.

"Hmm...I am hurt. He talked about you quite a bit. Baelfire, right?"

"Yes." The boy sat down next to the Pied Piper, realizing he was a friend, and that was more than what he could ask for at the moment.

More tears came down from his face.

"I've known Rumpel for a long time, and he would never abandon you. He wanted to be with you. Your mother-"

"You knew my mother?" Bae asked sharply.

"Knew her? I watched as Rumpel propsed to her! Oh it was romantic! Nonetheless, he probably didn't want you to be put in danger. He shouldn't have killed the Dark One though."

"Now, he has all that power-he'll never be himself again."

"Power does that to people, just don't leave him. At the very least, remember him. I'd march up to him and confront him. Then, I'd try and move past it...but that's just me," the Pied Piper suggested. "He's been lonely for a long time...kinda."

"Kinda?" Bae questioned.

"Well, uh, ya know, not having you around. You've left a scar on him, so to speak. Sure, he screwed up and if you want him out of your life, fine. But, at the very least, know he still loves you...you and your mother."

Bae started at the ground...thinking...

* * *

There was a knock at the large doors of the vast castle. Without being let in, the castle's door opened the next moment, and the sound of a high-pitched pipe rang through Belle's ears. The Pied Piper's eyebrows rose at the sight of the new girl. She stared at him for a few moments.

"Is Rumpelstiltskin around?" he asked. She set the tea tray down she was about to take away.

"Oh! Um, yes. Yes he is. Would you like me to fetch him?" Belle replied, forgetting her manners for a second. _What an eccentric man_, she thought.

"If you please...on second thought..." The Pied Piper pondered. After playing a tune of slides and scales, he saw Belle's eyes widen in fright. He recognized that look all too well.

"Don't!" he scolded, stopping her from advancing towards him, trying to be brave about it all. "Already lost one a few days back. They won't hurt you." The rat climbed to his arm, but Belle turned away, disgusted. She took a deep breath.

"Ah, Piper...What brings you all the way out to see little ol' me?" Rumpel asked, making Belle jump after she opened her eyes. She had no idea how long he'd been walking towards her.

Rumpelstiltskin eyed her, amused by her reactions. She cleared her throat, attempting to pull herself together. Rumpel stopped, still staring at her and waving his hand. Belle knew what that meant.

"I'll just take this to the kitchen..." she walked off, sighing in slight confusion. The gold spinner turned his attention back to his guest.

"I'm here to tell you that your son-" the Pied Piper began, but when his friend heard that word, son, he raised his flute and played a few notes, calming him instantly...for the moment.

"Yes, Baelfire...he's coming to visit you before he has to leave again," the Pied Piper concluded. "Unless...you wish to make other arrangements."

For a long moment, Rumpelstiltskin stared at the ground. Baelfire had run away after they had a large argument over his power as the Dark One. Rumpel figured he'd return to the old house when he was over it and wanted to come back. But, he didn't come for many months. In fact, he never really showed up at all.

"My son...tell him I'll be just outside town on the North side," Rumpel replied, turning away from the Pied Piper.

A rat had found its way to his leather pant leg. As it was climbing up to be friendly, the Dark One summoned his magic, striking it dead to the floor. The Pied Piper gave him a look of disapproval and annoyance.

"Really? You want to play it that way?" the Pied Piper told him, raising the pipe to his lips. This could get messy-

"I just got the girl a week ago," Rumpel justified quickly, looking behind him. "She's...she's all right when she's not swarmed with _rodents_ in the castle."

"Still, you know me Rumpelstiltskin. You know me quite well..." he held out his hand to his friend, revealing a note. Rumpel eyed it, swiping it from him.

"It seems you're called by others." The signature was quite obvious to him and he scoffed.

"Well?" the Pied Piper asked, still holding out his hands.

"Well what?" Rumpel asked bitterly.

"Postage Rumpel, by the gods! Did you expect _her_ to pay me?"

The Dark One took a golden thread from the pile and wrapped it around a wooden cylinder, handing it to him.

"There. Should be more than enough."

The Pied Piper bowed his head, picking up the dead rat with his bare hands, almost cradling it in his arms.

"It's just a rat! You have plenty more."

"That's what Bae said. Now, don't you forget about this. Two days time, North side of town." Rumpel nodded once. Coming back to his tall stance, the Pied Piper knew he had the correct information, and without a look back of any kind, the castle doors latched shut as he took his leave.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Who was that?" Belle asked, setting down a bucket and a rag so she could wipe down the table.

"That dearie, was Felix, known to most as the Pied Piper," Rumpel informed her as he walked back to the wheel.

"Why does he have rats all over him?" she asked wearily. Rumpel stopped for a moment, both of them listening to silence as the wheel ceased turning. He stared up in the air, thinking of an answer.

"For the same reason I spin this very wheel, my dear," he finally said. There was another silent moment, for Belle wasn't sure if she should say anything or if he was to fill in her confusion. He looked back to see her still standing there.

"It's what he does."

"Ah," Belle continued her work for that afternoon.

* * *

Rumpel became exceedingly nervous when the time came. He straightened his crocodile-skinned jacket in the glass before heading out. Belle caught sight of him.

"Going out?" she asked, a tray of teapots in her hands.

"Yes, I'll be back later tonight. Sorry, Dearie," he said, using magic to carry her into her room. She sighed, giving him a look.

"You know I would have just followed you!"

Rumpelstiltskin shut the door, feeling a little bad about having to lock her up all the time. Still, he could never be too careful.

Bae was even more nervous than a mouse in a lion's paw. Afraid to see what had become of his father since they last saw each other. He'd taken a trip, so to say, to the city, where he found a draft for the army against the ogre wars. However, he was usually on the run, just wandering lately, trying to figure things our before he went back to his father.

The last thing he'd said to his father that day was "All you care about is the power. It's never been me!" and he somewhat regretted those words. Baelfire hated arguing with his father as often as they had been. He'd been wandering for a long time, a few months perhaps, maybe more. Time wasn't important to him lately.

_My father would never hurt me_, Bae thought, and he knew that to be true, no matter what happened between them. He was a man to be feared, Bae couldn't deny that, but being the son of the Dark One he was probably the most valued kid in that little village back there. Thankfully, he'd been wandering, hearing a few things about his father here and there.

The last he'd heard, Rumpelstiltskin had built himself a castle, but he wasn't sure if he'd actually used it or moved into it. When he got word from the Pied Piper that his father confirmed the date they were to meet, Bae walked to the town the Piper gave him directions to.

When he reached the North side, past the runaway chickens, the laughing children that reminded him of himself once upon a time, and the bustling of the city life, he saw it in the distance. Far into the woods stood a castle tall and proud. It's figure dsitracted him for a moment from the reality he had to face.

Then, Baelfire had this eerie sense that someone was watching him. Slowly, he reached for the knife at his side. Abruptly, he turned a full semi-circle, pointing the knife directly at...

Rumpelstiltskin.

Rumpel held his hands up, staring at Baelfire with an expression filled with fascination and analysis. Bae stared back, almost in disbelief at the sight of his father.

"Papa?" he asked, hoping this was just an illusion. However, that hope was diminished as a delicate flame splashed with water.

"Bae," Rumpelstiltskin spoke slowly. "You've grown."

Baelfire retracted the knife.

"Sorry about that. I didn't know it was you...You've changed." Rumpel looked at his attire, remembering how long it really had been.

"Only slightly," he replied. "What _have_ you been doing these days? I've been lookin' for you."

"Here and there," Bae replied. "Thinking mostly."

"So I see."

"Heh, it's funny really," Bae said with a smile as his father gazed at him, confound. "I used to write small letters about what I would do if I ever saw you again. I even intended to mail one of them out, but I never did."

Rumpelstiltskin remained silent, walking closer as Bae found a tree stump to sit on.

"Well, I did move," he said finally.

"Oh I knew how to find you...at least, people who know you. I was afraid I suppose."

"My son? Afraid?" Rumpel sat next to him on the large tree stump.

"I was worried that with how everything went last time...perhaps I should just stay away."

"Then you met the Pied Piper I see," Rumpel remarked. "How did he change your mind?"

"He didn't. I changed my own mind, though his words were convincing. I wanted to see you, Papa, because I didn't want to leave things like last time."

"Baelfire..." Rumpelstiltskin put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I am sorry for what I did. You either believe me or you don't, but...I am. If I knew the price, I may have thought otherwise."

"Papa, please," Bae stood up and helped his father up as well. "Let us not discuss these things now." They stared again, as if some force didn't want them to look away. There was still an attraction, a bond between family. It was not completely destroyed, and Bae saw it. Right there.

He embraced his father, which sent a new reaction through Rumpelstiltskin. Rather, a familiar reaction: a sensation of belonging. In return, Rumpel pulled Bae closer.

"I came to say I forgive you," Baelfire said right into Rumpel's ear. "You just did what you thought was right." When he faced his father again, he saw his face alter. Bae was always like this: the bigger man. He stepped up at times Rumpelstiltskin never could.

"You...you forgive me?" he asked his son.

"Yes. Yes, Father, I do," Bae replied. "I'm ready to come home. Can we go home now?"

"H-home?" Rumpelstiltskin faltered over that word only. "Actually, I have not been back to our home since a month after you disappeared without a word. But, I do have a place to take you..."

Bae knew he wasn't going to like this based on his father's hesitation.

"Walk with me."

* * *

They talked for a while as they made their way through the forest, refraining from topics like living and the weather. Instead, politics came up more than anything. Bae mentioned a girl he met on the road, thinking he may one day go back and see her. It was then Rumpelstiltskin mentioned his new caretaker, though he didn't tell Bae all the details, knowing it was something he wouldn't like to hear through and through.

"How-You really live here?" Bae gasped, his brown eyes wide, and his jaw nearly dropped to touch the tie on his stained light brown cloak.

Rumpel put his head down, somewhat ashamed.

"Yes," he told his son simply, and they proceeded to walk inside after Rumpel unlatched the locks. They walked right into the dinning room where Bae stared with awe at all the different things they lay out on the tables surrounding the room.

Vast, brown and red tinted curtains draped down over the windows, letting not a single droplet of light into the room. Only the crystal chandelier above lit by bunches of candles filled the room as well as a fireplace and candles in the midst of the long-length table. The carpet was also red, and Bae felt guilty he was dragging mud in the house. He took off his boots and set them near the fireplace, for they were a little wet and uncomfortable on his feet.

He eyed a sword on one of the tables, but something else caught his mind.

"You still have this?" he asked, seemingly fascinated and astounded that his father would keep such a thing. Bae was referring to the walking stick his father used what seemed like years ago when he had a limp on his right leg. It was leaning against the wall, and Bae had walked over to it. Now, Bae noticed that he didn't need it at all since becoming the Dark One.

"I kept it as a reminder of sorts," Rumpelstiltskin replied. "I have an extra room upstairs if you'd like to make yourself comfortable." He sat down at the wheel for a moment while Bae looked around the room some more. It wasn't until after a few more moments that he actually set eyes on his father again.

"You spin thread into gold?" Bae said, admiring the vast wheel at the same time.

"Yes. Thread, straw, anything that works along the wheel. Here," his father said, taking three pieces of golden thread and handing it to Bae.

"Papa, I don't know what to say..."

"Forgiveness was plenty enough." Bae took the strands, awing at their glisten in the firelight. "I'll let you come and go as you please, but if you find yourself in any kind of trouble, I want you to come to _me_. But only you, I'm not some kind of all-powering fairy who takes the wishes of everyone! Anyone else, warn them all magic comes-"

"Thank you, Papa!" Bae gave Rumpel another hug, not wanting to hear the slogan again. He didn't have to worry about his father as much he did. His magic was still being used for some good. His father made himself wealthy and perhaps overdid it a bit, but there was still a kindness inside of him.

That's what mattered to Baelfire.


End file.
